Tan Ser Seng restaurant scores hattrick at SG Food Masters
The winners of Singapore Food Masters 2020 make a diverse list.
From traditional favourites such as bak chor mee and fish head steamboat, to imported thrills like mookata and Indonesian, to cafe finds including chicken chop - there seems to be a favourite for most taste buds.
These local food heroes were feted after more than 104,000 votes from Singapore Press Holdings readers (to pick the top 10 in each area) and a month of unannounced tastings from a panel of food experts to pick the winning three outlets.
Eventually, 12 eateries were selected based on these judging criteria: Taste, presentation, services, value for money and cleanliness.
The judges included Maureen Ow of Miss Tam Chiak fame, producer-presenter and music director of One FM 91.3 Charmaine Phua and Anna Lim, senior producer-presenter of 96.3 Hao FM.
There are three winners in each zone.
From the North, Thai Hao Chi Mookata (908 Upper Thomson Road), Woody Family Cafe (12F Andrews Avenue) and Yang Ming Seafood (Bishan Branch) (Blk 150, Bishan St 11) reigned supreme.
In the Central zone, Jia Wang Cafe (Blk 4 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee), Pin Sheng Teochew Bak Chor Mee (56 Eng Hoon Street) and Shrimp Prawn Seafood (53 Boat Quay) prevailed.
From the East, the champs are Ah Orh Teochew Fish Head Steamboat (739 Bedok Reservoir Road), Lazy Lizard The Promenade (#01-20 The Promenade) and Tan Ser Seng Herbs Restaurant (29 Lorong Bachok), which clinched a winner’s spot for three consecutive years.
And finally in the West, Bara Food (#01-10 Icon Village), EagleWings Loft (9 King Albert Park) and Kim Eng Chicken Rice (#01-72 NEWest) came up tops.
Mr Alvin Tai, 37, owner-chef of Shrimp Prawn Seafood which serves SteelPot Prawn Vermicelli, said: “I’m extremely astonished, yet grateful to all my supporters and judges especially when I am the first to start this speciality dish in Singapore during the Covid-19 pandemic period.
“Participating in Singapore Food Masters 2020 helped me tremendously to share to the public the kind of food Shrimp Prawn Seafood serves. I promise to uphold the quality and standard of all dishes.”
Mr Allan Tan, 29, owner of Tan Ser Seng Herbs Restaurant, added: “Covid-19 has been hard on us, so the assurance by the food critics definitely reminds us that we are on the right track.
“After being part of Singapore Food Masters, we have seen an increase in the number of new customers trying out our soups.
“It has helped us to show our supporters online and offline that even after 74 years in this industry, we continue to uphold our food quality and service standards. Hopefully we will win with another dish next year.”
Visit sgfoodmasters.sg to view the finalists’ awards presentation videos and the full list of participating eateries.
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